Jack Altman
American technology entrepreneur and investor who co-founded and led the HR software company Lattice, later founded the venture firm Alt Capital, and became a general partner at Benchmark in 2026.
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- Country
- United States
- Known for
- Co-founder and former chief executive of Lattice; founder of Alt Capital; general partner at Benchmark (since February 2026)
- Sibling
- Younger brother of Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI
- Prior role
- Vice president of business development at Teespring, before co-founding Lattice
- Podcast
- Host of "Uncapped with Jack Altman," produced by Alt Capitalstated by the subject
Overview
Jack Altman is an American technology entrepreneur and venture capital investor, best known as the co-founder and former chief executive of the HR and performance-management software company Lattice, and, since February 2026, as a general partner at the venture capital firm Benchmark (TechCrunch). He is the younger brother of Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, and is not the same person despite the shared surname (TechCrunch; Business Insider, via Yahoo Finance).
Lattice (2015–2023)
Before founding Lattice, Altman worked as vice president of business development at the social-commerce company Teespring. In 2015 he co-founded Lattice with Eric Koslow; the company went through the Y Combinator startup accelerator program in 2016 (TechCrunch). By April 2019, Lattice had raised a $15 million Series B round led by Shasta Ventures and reported roughly 1,200 customers and 60 employees, including clients such as Reddit, Slack, Coinbase, and Glossier (TechCrunch). Altman described the product’s origin in frustration with static, rarely-revisited quarterly goal-setting exercises: “We realized that with quarterly goal settings, OKRs, we would write them up and get the leadership together and then they would sit on a shelf and nothing would happen” (TechCrunch).
The company continued to grow through the pandemic-era funding boom, raising $175 million in a Series F round in January 2022 that tripled its valuation to $3 billion and brought its customer base to roughly 3,550 businesses (TechCrunch). Conditions tightened afterward: in January 2023, Lattice laid off 105 employees, mostly in recruiting and sales roles, and co-founder Eric Koslow left the company that year to pursue video content creation (Business Insider, via Yahoo Finance).
In December 2023, after eight years running the company, Altman announced he would step down as CEO to become executive chairman, with Sarah Franklin — a 15-year Salesforce executive who had run its marketing and led its Platform and Trailhead businesses — named as his successor (Business Insider, via Yahoo Finance; Lattice). Franklin formally became CEO on January 2, 2024. Altman said he would “partner with her and the rest of the leadership team closely to ensure a smooth and thoughtful handoff,” adding, “I’m not going anywhere; I’ll show up wherever I’m invited and try hard to stay out of the way where I’m not needed” (Lattice). He explained the decision as a matter of temperament rather than company performance: “I love early stage — it’s always what I’ve loved — and I happened to add another love,” describing a “first inkling” of wanting to move on that emerged as the company scaled rapidly in 2021 (Business Insider, via Yahoo Finance).
Alt Capital and Benchmark (2024–2026)
After stepping back from day-to-day leadership at Lattice, Altman founded the venture capital firm Alt Capital, raising a $150 million Fund I in early 2024 and a $274 million Fund II in September 2025. The firm has backed roughly 52 companies, including Rippling, Antares Nuclear, and CompLabs (TechCrunch). On February 17, 2026, Altman joined Benchmark as a general partner, bringing his Alt Capital teammates with him — an unusual structural move for the traditionally flat-organized firm — while planning to retain his board seats at Alt Capital’s portfolio companies. He had previously called his time building Alt Capital “the most rewarding” experience of his career, citing the appeal of “new ideas and being part of a team with a mission” (TechCrunch).
Podcast
Altman hosts “Uncapped with Jack Altman,” a weekly interview podcast produced under Alt Capital that launched in 2025, describing it as “conversations with people I admire about things I’m genuinely interested in.” Its guests have included prominent technology and venture-capital figures such as Shopify’s Tobi Lütke, 8VC’s Joe Lonsdale, and DoorDash’s Tony Xu (Apple Podcasts).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not state Jack Altman’s birth date or age, which no source read here provides. It does not assert his precise current relationship to Lattice’s board as of this profile’s last update — TechCrunch’s February 2026 report on his move to Benchmark describes his prior roles there without confirming whether he retains a board seat or the chairman title. It does not give a current headquarters or personal location for Altman, Alt Capital, or his work at Benchmark, since no independent source read for this profile confirmed one. It does not draw on his brother Sam Altman’s biography, career, or disputes beyond the single, directly sourced sibling relationship stated above.
Timeline
- 2015
- Co-founds Lattice, an HR and performance-management software company, with Eric Koslow, after working as vice president of business development at social-commerce company Teespring.
- 2016
- Lattice completes the Y Combinator startup accelerator program.
- 2019-04-26
- Lattice raises a $15 million Series B round led by Shasta Ventures; the company has about 1,200 customers and 60 employees at the time.
- 2022-01-19
- Lattice raises $175 million in a Series F round, tripling its valuation to $3 billion, with 3,550 business customers.
- 2023-01
- Lattice lays off 105 employees, mostly in recruiting and sales roles.
- 2023-12
- Altman announces he will step down as Lattice's CEO to become executive chairman, eight years after founding the company; Sarah Franklin, a 15-year Salesforce executive, is named incoming CEO.
- 2024-01-02
- Sarah Franklin formally becomes Lattice's CEO, with Altman continuing on as executive chairman.
- 2024
- Altman founds venture capital firm Alt Capital and raises a $150 million Fund I.
- 2025-09
- Alt Capital raises a $274 million Fund II.
- 2026-02-17
- Altman joins venture capital firm Benchmark as a general partner, bringing his Alt Capital team with him while retaining board seats at Alt Capital's roughly 52 portfolio companies.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- No source read for this profile confirms Jack Altman's precise current relationship to Lattice's board as of publication. TechCrunch's February 2026 report on his move to Benchmark describes his prior roles as "founder and chair" of Lattice without stating whether he retains a board seat or the chairman title there after joining Benchmark; this profile does not assert either way.
- Altman's birth date and age are not stated in any source read for this profile, so none is given.
- No independently sourced current headquarters location for Altman, Alt Capital, or his work at Benchmark was found, so none is stated.
Sources
6 sources (4 tier 1, 2 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
This profile relies on TechCrunch and Business Insider reporting for Altman's career at Lattice and Alt Capital, corroborated by Lattice's own company blog for the exact date of his CEO transition and by a podcast platform listing for the uncontested fact and format of his podcast. A paywalled trade-press article on Alt Capital's fundraising could not be read in full and was not used as a source.
- Lattice raises another $15M to improve performance reviews Supports: Lattice's 2015 founding by Jack Altman and Eric Koslow, Altman's prior role as vice president of business development at Teespring, the company's 2016 completion of the Y Combinator accelerator program, and the 2019 Series B round details and customer/employee counts.
- Lattice raises $175M more at a $3B valuation for its people management platform Supports: The January 2022 Series F round of $175 million, the resulting $3 billion valuation, and the company's customer count at the time.
- Jack Altman led his software unicorn Lattice through blitzscaling and a restructuring. Now he's stepping back at a crucible moment for tech. Supports: The January 2023 layoffs of 105 employees, co-founder Eric Koslow's 2022 departure, Altman's December 2023 announcement that he would step down as CEO to become executive chairman after eight years, Sarah Franklin's selection as incoming CEO, and Altman's own stated reasons for the change.
- Jack Altman joins Benchmark as GP Supports: Altman's February 17, 2026 move to Benchmark as a general partner, his description as the younger brother of OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, Alt Capital's founding, its $150 million Fund I (early 2024) and $274 million Fund II (September 2025), its roughly 52 portfolio companies including Rippling, Antares Nuclear, and CompLabs, and his quote describing Alt Capital as "the most rewarding" experience of his career.
- The Next Chapter Supports: The exact January 2, 2024 date Sarah Franklin began as CEO, her prior 15-year career at Salesforce, and Altman's own statement that he would continue as executive chairman and stay involved in the handoff.
- Uncapped with Jack Altman Supports: The uncontested facts that Altman hosts a podcast called "Uncapped with Jack Altman," produced under Alt Capital, launched in 2025 as a weekly interview show, and its format and example guests.
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